


Leather Boys

by htmlkitty (skyhooksandtrailmix)



Category: Backstreet Boys, NSYNC
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Flirting, Gangs, Kidnapping, Leather, M/M, Minor Character Death, Motorcycles, Mute Lance, Violence, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-02
Updated: 2015-07-02
Packaged: 2018-04-07 07:55:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 16,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4255443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyhooksandtrailmix/pseuds/htmlkitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Justin is the leader of a vicious motorcycle gang, with a cold heart. Can Lance, a mute, help melt it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Justin looked at the town through his sunglasses, smiling as he saw people cower in fear.

He loved collecting taxes. First stop, the grocery store.

"Oh, Tom. We're here!" Justin called in a sing-song voice. A short, balding man in his forties timidly stepped out.

"H-hello, Mr. Timberlake." He stuttered.

"Oh, Tom. Call me Justin. We're all friends here. Do you have the money?" He snapped his fingers, and JC stepped forward, holding a bag.

"I- I don't have a-all of it. Business has been slow." Justin's smiled turned into a sneer.

"Tom, how the fuck are you going to be protected from the Backstreet Gang, if you can't pay your damn dues!" He slammed his fist into the door.

Tom looked terrified. "P-please, sir. I'll have it by tomorrow."

"You better. But, here's some incentive. Joey!" Joey stepped forward.

"Yeah, boss?"

"Break a window." He ordered, stepping away. Joey grinned, and picked up a brick laying on the ground.

With a grunt, he threw it, and they all watched as it sailed into the store front window, shattering it.

Tom watched, shock on his face.

"Have my money by tomorrow, or we'll do more than break a window." Justin threatened.

And then, they climbed onto their motorcycles and drove off, leaving Tom in the dust.

After collecting money from a few other stores, Justin called a break.

Stealing was hard, tiring work.

***

Lance cautiously walked into the new town. There were hardly any people, and the ones he did see were crying.

He felt uneasy, but he needed food. He pulled out his wallet, containing all the money from his previous jobs.

There was no one at the grocery store, besides a man crying in front of broken window. Lance decided to move on.

He finally heard the sound of raucous laughter, and followed that. That's when he saw them.

Four men, all decked out in leather, sitting on a bench. They were counting money.

Lance realized that these men were the reason for all the destruction.

He decided the best thing to do was to just go around and hope he wouldn't be noticed.

He cautiously walked around them, trying to blend into the background.

"Well, well, well...what do we have here?" Someone grabbed his shoulder and whirled him around.

The man holding him was tall, bearded, and had a scar on the side of his face.

"Who are you?" He growled. Lance shook his head, and pointed to his throat.

"Can't talk, huh? Come on." And then he was being dragged to the gang, and dropped on the ground.

"Who's this?" A man with curly hair asked.

"Can't talk. I think he's new." Lance grabbed his bag and pulled out a small whiteboard, and a marker.

He wrote, 'My name is Lance. I'm just passing through.'

"Well, Lance...I'm afraid you can't do that. Once you're in this town, you're mine. And since you don't own a store, it looks like you can pay your dues right here in the gang." Said the curly haired man.

Lance gulped. He felt overwhelmed with dread as he looked up at his cold eyes.

"Don't worry." He smirked. "I'm sure we will be able to make you useful somehow".

"Are you sure about this, Justin? What could he possibly do for us? I mean, he can't even talk, I don't want to have to babysit this guy." Another tall brunette complained.

"JC, I think that you're underestimating our Lance." Justin dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Imagine what having him here could do for us when we have to transport weapons uptown. Instead of risking our asses carrying them ourselves we could just get him to do it." Justin explained.

Justin grabbed Lance's face with his cold hand. It gave him chills. "You'd be happy to do that for us wouldn't you Lancey?' He asked threateningly.

Lance nodded. He didn't feel that there was much else that he could do.

"Great" Justin chuckled. "Besides, the cops wouldn't even search a little pretty boy like him, let alone a mute. He looks far too innocent. He could be very useful to us." He concluded.

"Alright then, when were you thinking of testing this theory?" Asked JC interestedly.

"Well, Tony's getting the new shipment in tonight so we could have Lance make his first 'delivery' tomorrow morning."

"Just one problem, where's this guy gonna stay? We can't exactly trust him to just show up for work tomorrow." Joey interjected.

Justin looked off to the side like he was thinking hard. He furrowed his brow slightly.

"I guess there's no way around it, he'll just have to stay with us. Until we figure out a better arrangement, that is." He decided.

"What!?" Exclaimed Chris "Justin, are you sure that's a good idea?"

The others looked quite surprised too. None more than Lance himself though.

"Have you got a better idea Chris!?" Justin replied angrily. He didn't appreciate people questioning his judgment.

"No." Chris answered timidly.

"We could just keep him in the basement? It'd be like he's not even there." suggested JC.

Justin stood up and stretched "I like the way you think".

"Get up." Justin commanded as he roughly grabbed Lance's arm. He complied.

The others stood up too and followed Justin. They walked until they came to an abandoned parking lot where 4 motorbikes were parked.

"Shall we show him his new home?" Justin smirked.

"Yeah sure, I was getting pretty tired anyway. I could use a sleep." said JC.

Justin rolled his eyes at him. "Ok, let's go then".

The other men hopped onto their motorbikes.

"You're going to have to ride with me, ok pretty boy?" Justin was still holding onto Lances arm painfully tight.

Lance attempted to write something on his whiteboard in response to this. Justin loosened his grip on Lance's arm when he realized he was making it more difficult.

'I don't know how' he wrote.

"Oh..there's not much to it. I'll show you".

"See? You put your foot on the footpeg, then you swing your leg over like this" Justin explained as he climbed onto the bike.

Lance put his white board back in his bag. Then he joined Justin on the back of the motorbike.

"Ok good, now hold onto my waist so you don't fall off. Also, don't you dare do anything stupid that would distract me or throw us off balance."

Lance very hesitantly wrapped his arms around Justin's midsection. It was strange being that close to such a frightening man. He could feel the warmth of his body under the smooth leather Jacket that clung to it. He could even feel the movement of his breath going in and out. It made him seem more like a regular person and somehow that made Lance feel safer.

"You guys ready?" Justin yelled over his shoulder as they revved up their engines.

"Ready." They all chorused.

And with that, they zoomed up the road, on their way to the clubhouse.


	2. Chapter 2

Riding back with Justin was both terrifying and exhilarating. On one hand, he was riding with a dangerous criminal. On the other hand, the wind in his face felt amazing.

He felt free for the first time in a long time.

Soon, too soon, they reached the house. It was huge, towering over the five of them.

A shingle broke off and landed dangerously close to Lance and Justin, just barely missing them.

Lance squeezed Justin tighter, on instinct. Justin laughed harshly and turned his head.

"Lancey, don't be frightened. Although, I like the way you're squeezing me. Maybe later, you can squeeze something else." He smirked devilishly.

Lance's eyes widened, and he released his tight grip on Justin. He had standards, damn it.

They pulled into a large garage, where they parked their motorcycles.

Justin climbed off first, then picked up Lance, like he was a rag doll, and set him on the ground.

"Come on, pretty boy." He grasped Lance's arm, and dragged him into the house, into the basement.

The basement was dark and cold, something that belonged in a horror movie.

Justin pulled Lance over to a set of pipes, and lifted his hands, holding them above the pipe.

"Don't move." He commanded. Lance struggled with this, he was too short to reach completely. He watched Justin root around the room curiously.

He returned with a set of handcuffs. He lifted Lance up again, bracing him as he struggled with the metal cuffs.

His hand skated across Lance's ass, and he smirked again. "Oh, yeah. You'll do just fine here." He finally got the cuffs on, and stepped back, admiring his handiwork.

Lance felt incredibly vulnerable, his feet hardly reached the floor, and he felt as if every inch of him was being scrutinized by this dangerous man.

"That ought to keep you until morning. And I have to say, you look quite pretty in handcuffs. Maybe this could be a regular thing...in my bedroom." He leaned in close, and Lance did the first thing that came to mind.

He spit right in Justin's face.

Justin froze for a moment, his eyes screwed shut. Then, he slowly wiped his face, and opened his eyes, glaring at Lance.

With a loud shout, he smacked Lance across the face. "Don't you EVER do that again." He growled, stalking away.

He turned back as he reached the top of the stairs.

"Sweet dreams, Lancey." He sneered before closing the door, leaving Lance in total darkness.

***

 

By the time morning had come every muscle in Lance's body ached. It hurt so much that he was actually happy when he saw Justin coming down the stairs. Just because it meant that he would finally be able to move his painful arms and stretch his stiff back.

"Mmmmmmm. I slept like a baby" Justin taunted as he stretched. "What about you, Lancey?"

Lance glared at him.

"Oh, don't be like that. We're going to have lots of fun together, you know?" Justin smirked and ruffled Lance's hair.

"Now where did I put those keys.." He fumbled at his pockets. "Ah, here they are."

Relief shot through Lance's tired arms as he finally got to lower them to his side. Then fingers dug into his shoulder and abruptly jerked him back.

"You ready for your 'delivery' today? I'm sure Tony will just love a dainty thing like you." Justin murmured. Lance could feel his warm breath against his ear.

He nodded sadly.

"That's the way!" Justin encouraged. He slid his hand down to Lances lower back and led him up the stairs.

"You guys ready?" Justin addressed the rest of the group who were waiting in the lounge room.

"Just about." answered Joey as he zipped up his boots.

"We're ready." answered JC as he glanced over at Chris.

"You ever done anything like this before, Lance?" Chris asked curiously.

Lance shook his head.

"Well, there's not to much to it." Chris explained. "Pretty much we'll give you a bag that has the money. Then you deliver the bag to Tony. Tony gives you the goods, then you deliver them to our customers."

"You can handle that, can't you?" Added Justin, with his arm still around Lance's back.

Lance's body tensed up. He didn't know how to respond.

"Somebody get him his damn whiteboard." Justin commanded.

Joey hurriedly fetched it.

"Here you go boss".

Justin impatiently watched over Lance's shoulder as he wrote.

'I'm scared' the whiteboard said.

"Scared!?" Justin exclaimed. He roughly pulled Lance closer to him. "Don't you worry baby, we'll be looking out for you." He said mockingly.

"Yeah, since it's your first mission we'll follow you at a respectable distance to make sure you don't slip up. If there's any problem we'll be able to step in." Chris elaborated.

"But if you're the cause of the problem, well, that's a different story." Joey added sternly.

Lance swallowed hard. He felt like he was going to faint.

However, there was no time for that. He had to pull himself together pretty quickly as he was hurried out the door.

 


	3. Chapter 3

The ride there seemed to take forever, even though it was only about ten minutes long.

The entire time, Lance had his head against Justin's back, his eyes squeezed shut.

He was praying. Tony sounded like a dangerous man, and he couldn't even talk. He tried his best not to tremble, most likely failing.

As soon as they arrived, he let Justin lift him up, not even flinching. All he could do was focus on the large warehouse in front of him.

"Okay, pretty boy. Let's go." Justin handed him the bag and smacked his ass as he started walking.

Lance turned and glared at him for a second before cautiously walking up to the door and knocking.

A large, tattooed man opened the door.

"Who're you?" He growled, taking in the small boy.

Lance quickly wrote down, 'I'm here for a pick up for Justin.'

Tony laughed. "Well, come on in, boy!" He led Lance into the warehouse.

From their vantage point, Joey whistled. "Damn. He's good. He might actually be useful."

"You're right...we should keep him around. I bet he'd be good at lots of things." Chris mused. "We could probably use him to get that Chief Of Police off our backs."

"I know one thing he'll be good at." Justin smirked.

JC laughed. "Damn, Justin. Another one? Didn't you just get finished with Drew a week ago?"

"I'm a grown man. I have needs. Oh, shit. Here he comes." They all ducked down as Lance left the warehouse, holding a crate. He stumbled over to the gang, and set the crate on the ground.

"Nice, Lancey. Now we can go deliver these." They were about to load the crate onto Joey's motorcycle, when they heard a voice behind them.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Justin Timberlake." They all whipped around to see another gang.

"Carter. What do you want?" Justin growled, reaching for a knife in his belt loop.

"Just checking out this town. It's...quaint. I love it. We're thinking of taking over it permanently."

"Oh, hell no. This is our town. Now get out." Justin threatened, brandishing his knife.

Nick stepped forward, laughing nonchalantly. "That's funny, but you know what? I think that I'm going to stay, actually." Nick stood with his face intimidatingly close to Justin's and added "Truth be told, we quite like it here. Seems like this town is just crying out for a gang that knows what they're doing."

"What makes you think that you could even get anywhere in this town?!" Justin snarled. "They know who their boss is, they won't just cooperate with any old bozo in a leather jacket."

"Oh really?" AJ, the heavily tattooed member of Nick's gang interrupted him.

Justin's eyes filled with rage when he noticed the identical crate in AJ's arms.

"Tony, with all due respect, what the fuck?!" Justin yelled as he turned to stomp into the warehouse.

JC grabbed his arm and stopped him "We can deal with Tony later." he reminded him.

"He's selling to this clown now?!" He replied angrily.

"Our money is just as good as anybody else's." Nick shrugged. "Maybe this town isn't as loyal to you as you'd hoped."

Justin clenched his fists and gritted his teeth together.

"Aww, what's the matter Timberlake, afraid of a little competition?" Nick teased.

"We'd never be afraid of you losers!" Yelled Chris.

"Losers?" Kevin, a tall gang member with menacing eyebrows scoffed. "Sure you're not talking about yourselves?"

"Hey, fuck you!" JC called out. This made the backstreet gang laugh.

Justin, who was visibly stewing in anger couldn't hold back anymore and he sucker punched Nick right in the face.

Nick stumbled back from the impact but quickly caught his balance. He calmly wiped his cheek with the back of his hand and examined the blood that shed onto it.

"You're going to regret that." he said blankly as the other members of his gang walked forward.

Justin glanced back at his own gang and gave them a nod, causing them to walk toward too.

JC put on a set of brass knuckles and Chris pulled out his trusty throwing-knife. Joey knew that he didn't even need weapons. He liked to get his hands dirty.

"Turn around right now or else!" Yelled Chris.

"Or else what?!" A man with olive skin and hair slicked into a ponytail yelled back.

"Or else I might do something like this!" Chris replied as he threw the knife. He had been practicing his aim and these days, he rarely missed.

It punctured the ponytailed man's shoulder.

"WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK!" he cried as blood gushed out. He reached for the knife that was sticking out of his shoulder.

"You know, if I was you I wouldn't try to remove that, it'll just make it bleed more" Chris taunted.

"Howie! Are you ok?!" The other blonde member of the backstreet gang rushed over to aid him.

"What the fuck have you done to Howie?!" Snarled AJ.

Chris burst out laughing almost exaggeratedly, holding his sides. He was practically cackling.

Nick looked back over his shoulder "Get him out of here Brian!" He commanded.

Brian nodded and led Howie away to tend to his wound.

Justin chuckled. "So, how ya feeling Nicky? You scared to take us on now that there's only three of you left?"

For a brief second Nick's eyes widened as he looked to either side of him and realized that he was outnumbered. However they quickly narrowed.

"We're not scared. You should be though." he replied as he stomped towards Justin.

Joey and JC decided to take on Kevin together and AJ ran at Chris, he was still totally enraged over what happened to Howie.

Even though he was outnumbered, Kevin kept the pair of them pretty busy and managed to land quite a few punches. Though eventually he knocked JC out cold.

Chris and AJ were quite evenly matched it seemed, who would win was anybody's guess.

Lance watched on helplessly from the sidelines. His eye's kept being drawn back to Justin as he fought with Nick.

Nick had managed to wrestle his knife off him and threw it away to the side. However, Justin still seemed to have the advantage. That was, until Nick got him on the ground.

He had Justin pinned down and was punching him in the face repeatedly. With each punch Justin seemed to fight back even less. Was Nick really going to win?

Lance couldn't just sit back and watch anymore as Justin got the crap beaten out of him. He didn't understand why, but he felt like he had to try and help.

Everybody was so distracted that they didn't even notice him wander over to collect Justin's knife.

"What the-" Nick yelled as he was roughly shoved off of Justin.

"Lance!" Justin exclaimed in disbelief as Lance gave him the knife.

Justin paused to cough up some blood.

"Well well, who's this cutie?" smirked Nick as his eyes glided over Lance in his tight jeans.

Lance felt uncomfortable, like he was a piece of meat to him and Nick was undressing him with his eyes.

"None of your business, Carter!" Justin responded.

Suddenly everybody stopped fighting. Police sirens were approaching.

"We have to get out of here!" Yelled Kevin. The Backstreet gang ran away and were on their motorbikes almost immediately..

"JC! JC get up!" Cried Chris, frightened. "JC we have to go!".

The sirens were getting closer. "What? Where am I?" Asked JC tiredly.

"Get up!" Yelled Chris as he pulled him to his feet. They jumped on their bikes and zoomed up the road.

 


	4. Chapter 4

When they arrived back at their house, Chris and Joey rushed JC inside to check out his injuries.

Lance was about to go in, when Justin grabbed his arm. "Lance, wait."

Lance turned back to him, wincing when he saw Justin's bruised face.

"You, uh. You really saved my ass out there." Justin released Lance's arm, and stuffed both hands into his pockets. "So, uh, thanks."

Lance nodded, smiling a little bit for the first time in a long time.

"Why'd you do it? I locked you in the basement, I came onto you, I essentially sent you in that warehouse to die. Why did you even bother saving me?"

Lance pulled his whiteboard out of his bag and quickly scrawled something down. He showed it to Justin, who read it out loud.

'I don't know why, I just felt like I had to. I'm just that kind of person, I guess.'

Justin looked up. "Well, I appreciate that. Thank you." He smiled a little bit, and placed his hand on Lance's shoulder.

Then, he turned gruff again. "So, you've met the Backstreet gang. Fuckers. Thank God Chris knows how to use his knife."

Lance nodded, taking his whiteboard and writing down, 'Why did Nick call me "cutie"? That was weird.'

"Because he's disgusting. I'd stay away with him, he's worse with men than I am." He started to lead Lance inside. "You should probably get some new clothes. Chris's would probably fit you."

He took Lance inside, and saw JC sleeping on the couch. "Poor JC. He never knows when to quit in a fight."

He and Lance went upstairs. "Here, you can shower. I'll go get some clothes for you." He mumbled, before quickly running off to Chris's room.

Lance smiled to himself and stepped into the bathroom, quickly closing the door and shedding his clothes.

As he got into the warm shower, he started thinking about his current situation.

Why was Justin acting so nice? When would it end? What if this was some plot to get Lance in bed with him?

He sighed as he quickly washed his body, and scrubbed his hair with shampoo.

'Don't get used to this, Lance.' He subconscious told him. He nodded, and washed out the shampoo. He turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around his hips.

He was standing there, still wet, when Justin walked in.

He looked shocked for a moment before turning on his suave attitude.

"Nice, Lancey. I can get into this look for you." Lance rolled his eyes and took the clothes, looking pointedly at the door.

Finally, Justin took the hint. "Okay, okay. See you out there." He left, and Lance inspected the clothes.

A pair of boxer-briefs, still in the package, thank God. A pair of black leather pants, and a white t-shirt.

He quickly got dressed, and walked out of the bathroom. Justin was waiting. "Nice, Lancey. Now you look just like me." He led Lance back downstairs.

He hesitated for a second. "You know, I think you've earned sleeping on the other couch." Lance's eyes widened.

"I still have to handcuff you, though. Just in case." Lance nodded. "Cool. I'll be right back." He jogged off, and Lance smiled to himself. Maybe things were starting to look up.

***

Nick Carter sat in his own house, smoking a cigarette. Brian was there, telling him the status on Howie's shoulder.

"The wound is deep, but treatable. He lost a lot of blood, but the stab is covered, so he's not losing anymore."

"Good. Now, go away. I need to think." He took a long drag on his cigarette as Brian left.

He started thinking about today. Fucking Timberlake. He always had to be on top.

But who was that blonde, with the large green eyes, and killer ass?

He overheard Justin say 'Lance'? Was that his name?

Nick wondered if Lance was Justin's latest plaything. Justin had all the luck, he's so fucking spoilt. It's like he has to have it all. The town, the power, the influence AND whatever man he wanted. Nick was over it.

He was probably just fucking him anyway. Nick saw Justin with a new guy practically every time they had the misfortune of running into each other.

Nick leaned forward and butted his cigarette out.

Lance was totally his type and he was quite evidently into bad boys with motorbikes.

Nick figured himself to be way better looking than that curly haired creep anyway. It wouldn't actually be hard at all to make the pretty blonde his.

A smile spread over his face at this idea. However, it wasn't clear whether he was happier about the idea of Lance, or the idea of Justin finally not getting to have something that he wanted.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Justin awoke that night to a blood curdling scream. He swiftly grabbed the knife from under his pillow and ran out wearing nothing but his underwear.

"NO! YOU CAN'T TAKE ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!" an unfamiliar voice yelled as he ran down the hallway.

"MAMA! DAD! HELP! HELP!"

Justin stopped where he stood and dropped the knife to his side when he saw the source of the cries.

Lance was turning and writhing in his sleep as he cried out. He must be having a nightmare.

Justin hesitated for a brief moment, he didn't really know what to do in this situation. Providing comfort wasn't exactly a specialty of his.

"Lance, Lance it's just a bad dream." he said as he shook him. He noticed a tear sliding down Lance's pale cheek.

Lance blinked his eyes open and jolted with shock when he saw Justin leaning over him.

"Hey! What's going on out there!?" Yelled Chris as he came barreling down the hallway, a new throwing-knife in hand.

"It's ok Chris, go back to your room. Lance was just having a nightmare." Justin informed him.

"Oh.." Chris said almost disappointedly as he lowered his knife and turned around.

Justin turned back to Lance, who was snow white. "Um. Do you wanna talk about it?"

Lance shook his head no, biting his bottom lip and furrowing his eyebrows. He was still shaking a little bit.

Justin had no idea what to do in this situation. "Do- do you want a hug?" He asked awkwardly.

After a few seconds, Lance nodded, and Justin relaxed as Lance did all the work, getting closer and hugging Justin.

Justin awkwardly put his arms around Lance and patted his back, trying to find something to say that would break the uncomfortable silence.

"Um. I like your voice. It's really deep. I'm jealous." Justin mentally smacked himself. Lance didn't seem to care though. He just leaned his head on Justin's chest, and tried nit to shake too much.

Soon enough, Justin relaxed, and he was able to hug Lance back, squeezing him lightly.

When they pulled apart, Justin was again lost for words. Lance reached for his whiteboard.

'Thanks, Justin. I needed that.' He wrote with a smile. Justin shot a smile right back.

"Anytime, Lancey. Anytime."

***

The next day was uneventful, however, Justin and Lance skirted around each other, blushing. The others were confused, but just shrugged it off.

"Oh, shit! I just realized we left our shit at the warehouse!" Joey gasped, slamming his fist down on the kitchen table.

Justin almost spit out his coffee. "Well fuck.. You're right. We should probably go see if it's still there."

"Fine by me." JC agreed.

"You up for another mission Lance?" Chris asked. Though, it's not like it would make a difference if he said no.

Lance nodded. He didn't feel anywhere near the same level of hesitation as the first time.

"We might as well get this over with." Justin said tiredly as he stood up to grab his leather jacket.

The others followed his lead and got themselves ready, then they walked out to the bikes.

Lance noticed that Justin barely looked at him while they were getting onto the bike. Justin had been acting differently all morning. No remarks, no jokes at Lance's expense, he was just..quiet. It seemed strange that after they had held each other Justin had completely stopped flirting with him. If you could have called that flirting, it felt too aggressive for that. But still, even though he didn't want to admit it, a part of him kind of missed it.

He wrapped his arm's around Justin's midsection like usual but something felt different. He could feel Justin's breathing, it was shallow and fast. Actually, his own felt a bit the same.

On the ride over he tried to not dwell on how safe he felt when he was swept up in Justin's strong arms. Or how much he sort of wanted to be held in them again. He felt ridiculous. It just didn't seem right to get a crush on somebody who had basically kidnapped him.

When the arrived Justin didn't help Lance off of the bike like be previously had. He just walked ahead to where they had left the crate.

"It's gone." He declared, before the others caught up.

"Really?" Asked Joey.

"Yeah, we were right here. The pigs must have taken it." asserted Chris.

"Hey um, I don't mean to worry you guys or anything.." The group looked at JC. "But the police have our fingerprints on file. You guys know how much they have been wanting to stop our weapon racket. I have no doubt that they would test it for fingerprints. If they have that crate then they pretty much know that we're behind the weapon trade in town. They'll be looking for us." informed.

"You're right JC, we might have to lay low for a little while. Maybe we'll be able to sort out a deal and pay them off. But until then it's probably best if we stay in the clubhouse." Justin replied.

"That's why we're lucky we've got Lancey." commented Chris with a grin. "He can keep our business running while we're unable to."

"Yeah, sorry Lance, you might have to make the next few missions on your own. You can handle that right?" Asked JC concernedly.

Lance looked at each of their faces. They were counting on him. It kind of made him feel more like a part of the gang.

He nodded and the rest of the group looked relieved and happy.

He didn't want to be a criminal, but it was nice to feel included.

"I just hope that jerk Nick Carter stays away from you." Justin muttered.

Lance nodded an agreement. He could tell from just one meeting that Nick was the kind of guy who persisted, or would even go to force, if he didn't get what he wanted.

He looked over at Justin and smiled at him softly.

After a minute or so, Justin smiled back.


	6. Chapter 6

They soon fell into a steady pattern. Justin would drive Lance out to the warehouse, where he would then pick up the weapons and distribute them to their customers across town, which was only a short walk. Then, he would walk back to the warehouse, where Justin would pick him up.

After a few weeks, they decided to go out and celebrate, they had laid low for a while, they were certain that everything had blown over. All five of them were at a local bar, sitting in a booth. Lance was in between Justin and JC, smiling as the other four joked around. He was finally feeling accepted.

"Lance, I think our drinks are ready. Can you go get them?" Chris asked, as he played with his knife. He brought it everywhere he went. Lance nodded and walked up to the bar, leaning over slightly.

"So, Justin, when are you gonna get him in bed?" JC asked, flicking a peanut shell.

Justin sighed. "I don't know if I want to. He's so innocent, he's probably never even done it before." He didn't take his eyes off the table.

Chris leaned in close. "Wait- do you like him? Like him, like him?"

"God, Chris, we're not in elementary school. Grow up." Justin scoffed. But he blushed a little bit.

Joey laughed. "Oh my God! You have a crush!" He pushed Justin a bit. "You can still lay him though."

"God, you don't think I want that? The boy was MADE for sex." Justin moaned. He glanced over at Lance, who was still waiting.

"Justin and Lance, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-"

"Shut up, fucker, before I punch you."

***

Lance was waiting for the drinks, occasionally glancing over at Justin and the others.

He smiled as he looked at Justin, who was blushing lightly. Over the weeks of working together, Justin had let his guard down slightly, and was opening up about himself. They never talked about the night of the nightmare, though.

"Hey, you're Lance, right?" Lance turned at the sound of a smooth voice, coming from behind him.

It was Nick Carter.

Lance's eyes widened, and he took a step back.

"Hey, now. I know we got off to a rough start, but you don't have to be scared. I don't bite...unless you want me to." Lance shivered as he felt Nick's eyes wander over his body.

Nick got closer, stalking him as if Lance was a gazelle, and Nick a lion.

"You know, Timberlake's a real jerk. You should come home with me, I can show you how a real man fucks." He murmured.

Lance grabbed his whiteboard and wrote 'Justin and I aren't together.'

"Even better. Once you go Nick, you'll never want to go back. Besides, you're way too good for a guy like Justin." he commented.

Lance frowned. 'I would never go home with you' he wrote. Then he underlined never.

He leaned in so close that Lance could smell the bourbon on his breath. "Aw, come on, how do you know you don't like me if you don't give me a chance?"

Lance turned his face away defiantly.

"Back off, Carter!" Yelled Justin as he stomped over.

Nick groaned and rolled his eyes as he approached.

"I was just talking to La-"

"Yeah?! Well don't!" Justin interrupted aggressively.

"Why have you got your panties in a knot Timberlake? He told me that you two aren't even together." Nick remarked.

"Uh.." Justin stuttered for a second and looked at Lance nervously. However he quickly regained his confidence.  

Justin forcefully wrapped an arm around Lance and pulled him closer. Then he announced "Well we are now! So like I said, back off Carter!"

Lance blushed.

Nick sighed and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small bit of paper took Lance's pen from his hand.

"Be like that then." Nick said bitterly as he wrote something down. "But here's my number, if you ever want to be with somebody who actually knows how to treat a man."

He sauntered closer and slid the piece of paper into the back pocket of Lance's leather pants, making sure to get a feel while he was there. "Just don't say I didn't warn you when Justin gets tired of you like the others." he said arrogantly.

"Don't touch him, you creep!" Justin yelled as he shoved him away.

Nick walked away laughing and left the bar.

"Sorry about him, Lance." Justin said as he led him back towards the group.

'That's ok' Lance wrote. He hesitated while he figured out what to write next. He started to write something but then he erased it. He looked up at Justin who was watching him intently, then he simply wrote 'Thanks for standing up for me'. Which was a lot less than he wanted to write in that moment.

"That's alright, somebody has to put Nick Carter in his place." Justin shrugged. Then they sat down with the rest of the group.

Lance felt uneasy as he watched Justin interact and laugh with the guys as though nothing had happened. What were Justin's intentions when he told Nick that they were together? Did he actually want to be with Lance? Or was it just a lie to make Nick leave him alone? He was so confused.

Then Justin turned to him "Are you ok, Lancey?" He asked caringly.

Lance was about to write something like 'yes' but he decided to be braver than that.

'Could I see you alone for a moment?' He wrote and gestured towards a deserted corner of the bar.


	7. Chapter 7

After a minute, Justin nodded. "Yeah, sure, Lancey." They both stood up, and Lance started to lead him towards the back.

Justin sent a smirk over his shoulder at the others, making them whistle and catcall.

Justin laughed and turned back around, his mind already racing with the possibilities of what Lance was planning to do.

Eventually, they were outside, illuminated only by the streetlight.

Lance smiled at him nervously. He wrote, 'Thanks for coming out here with me.'

Justin smiled slyly, and put his hands up against the wall of the building, trapping Lance in between them.

"No problem. Something tells me it'll be all my pleasure." He raked his eyes down Lance's body.

Lance shook his head, and wrote down, 'I didn't come out here to have sex with you! I just wanted to talk for a minute.'

Justin froze for a second, then moved his arms and blushed, clearly embarrassed. He cleared his throat.

"Um, what did you want to talk about, then?" He asked gruffly.

'When you told Nick that we were together, did you really mean it? Or were you just trying to get Nick off ny back?'

Justin thought for a moment. "Sit down with me." He sat down against the all. Lance sid the same.

"Lance, I'm not gonna lie. I really like talking to you, and you know how much I want to fuck you. Hell, I knew I wanted to do that the moment I saw you."

Lance nudged him a bit. 'I knew that part already. You aren't subtle.'

"Oh, shut up. The point is, I like you. But the thing is, you wouldn't want to be in a relationship with me."

'Why not?' Lance turned to face Justin.

"Because. I'm a dangerous man. I could hurt you. I'd want to have sex with you. A lot. More than you'd like. I wouldn't tell you that I love you." He laughed bitterly.

"I mean, fuck. When we first came out here, I was gonna have you blow me. I have a one track mind. Not good for relationships."

'Ok' was all that Lance wrote. His face didn't hide his disappointment. Then he remembered what Nick Carter had said about him. Maybe he was right.

"Aw Lance are you upset? I'm sorry, I just don't want you to get the wrong idea about who I am." Justin put his hand on Lance's arm to comfort him.

Lance wrote 'Thanks for letting me know then' and swatted his arm away.

"Lance, I.. Uh.." Justin stuttered nervously.

Lance had turned away to walk back inside before Justin could gather himself.

"I still really like you!" He said hopelessly. But Lance was already gone.

"..A lot more than I've liked anybody before." he muttered in a small voice as his shoulders slumped.

Then he remembered that he was in public. He stood up straight and frustratedly punched a wall. Have to maintain that tough guy look right?

He stomped back inside the bar and didn't even look at Lance. He went straight to the counter.

"A jug of your strongest beer." he ordered as he slammed his money down on the countertop.

"Ok coming right up, you were at that table right? asked the bartender as they filled the large jug.

"Yup." Justin replied impatiently.

"Here you go." He placed it on the counter with five glasses to go with it.

Justin snatched the jug and began pouring it into his mouth.

"Uh, you're not allowed to do that, it's against policy. You have to use the glasses." the bartender informed him hesitantly. Justin ignored him and held up his middle finger as he finished the last gulp.

"We're leaving!" He commanded as he approached the table.

"What? But we're having fun!" Chris whined.

Lance looked up at him, looking like he was trying to not let himself cry. Then he turned away bitterly.

This was not what Justin wanted.

"We're leaving! Justin reiterated aggressively.

" Ugh, whatever" said Chris, irritated as they slid out of the booth they were sitting at.

The group muttered about Justin as they left but he didn't care. However he did care that Lance was ignoring him. He had barely acknowledged him the entire way back to the clubhouse.

The others went inside, but first, Lance borrowed Joey's cell phone.

"Hey, it's Lance. I changed my mind, come get me." He quickly typed out.

He got a message almost instantly. "Sure thing, babe. You won't regret it." Lance handed the phone to Joey and leaned against the wall.

It was done. Soon, he'd be with Nick Carter, away from Justin.


	8. Chapter 8

Justin walked over to Lance, who was waiting outside.

"Lance, we need to talk."

Lance wrote, 'There's nothing to talk about. Nick will be here soon.'

"Nick? No, Lance, you can't go with him!"

'Why not? He wants me for the same reason you do. At least he's upfront about it.'

"God. Lance. You have no IDEA what it's like to have to mask your feelings everyday. I grew up like that. I couldn't show affection. But I still like you, more than I have with any other guy I've taken home. You're special. Nick Carter doesn't deserve you. Hell, I don't deserve you. I'm sorry." He trailed off at the end of his speech, staring down into Lance's eyes.

Lance reached out and touched Justin's face, surprising him. In one swift notion, he leaned up and kissed Justin squarely on the lips.

Justin was shocked. Lance pulled away and wrote, 'I forgive you."

Justin smiled at him. "Thanks, Lance." He said softly.

'Will you help me when Nick gets here?'

Justin nodded. "That fucker won't be bothering you for a ling time." He leaned down and kissed Lance again, quickly.

Just then, Nick pulled up, not on a motorcycle, but in a black car.

He stepped out, a grin on his face. "You ready, babe?"

Justin stepped forward. "Sorry, Carter. You're too late. Lance IS mine, now."

Nick laughed. "Cute, Timberlake. You fed me that shit in the bar."

Lance stepped forward. On his board, he had written, 'I changed my mind. I am with Justin now.'

grin turned into a scowl. "Oh, fuck no. I did not drive all the way out here just to he turned down. You're coming him with me, bow." He reached out and grabbed Lance by the shoulder.

Justin smacked his hand away. "Don't fucking touch him." He growled, shoving Nick back.

Nick let go of Lance and shoved Justin. Justin then punched him in the face. "Get back, Lance!" He yelled.

Lance hurried off to the side, watching the fight unfold. Justin was winning, and Lance felt a flutter of pride.

Until Nick suddenly lunged for Lance, holding him in a headlock, his other hand holding a knife to his face.

"Back away, Timberlake, or I'll cut his pretty face." He snarled. Justin froze, then stepped back a couple steps.

"Good." Nick turned Lance's face toward his own and kissed him roughly. He pulled back, and shot a look towards Justin.

"Don't move, Timberlake. Lance and I have some plans." Holding the knife to Lance's face, he slowly dragged him to the car.

All Justin could do was was watch. "Don't worry, Lance. I'll get you back." He called.

Lance was too scared to struggle, he could only nod helplessly as Nick shoved him into the car.

"I'll be right back." He muttered, tracing Lance's jaw with the knife. He slammed the door and walked back over to Justin, punching him so hard, he passed out.

Nick spit on his unconscious body, then joined Lance in the car. "Don't look so scared, Lancey! You and I are gonna have a great time!" He started driving.

Lance wrote, 'You're a monster. I won't sleep with you. I HATE you.'

"Hate all you want, baby. You're mine now. You'll make a great toy...and some great incentive for Justin to turn the town over to me."

Lance shook his head. 'I could never like someone like you. You kidnapped me.'

"Hate to break it to you, sweet cheeks, but Justin did the same thing. Remember?"

'It's not like that anymore. Justin has a good side, a sweet side. You're a bad person all around.'

They stopped at a red light.

"Hey, this is my first kidnapping. You think you're the first guy Justin's taken? He's a wanted criminal." He paused for a second then looked over at Lance, his face took on a more serious quality.

"Lance..baby." he said softly, with a sympathetic look in his eyes. He put his hand on Lance's leg. "I know about what happened to you. I know why you're mute."

Lance's body jolted. 'How would you know that?' He wrote nervously.

"It doesn't matter, I have a source." Nick removed his hand from Lance's leg as the traffic light changed. "You might not want to know this, but Justin is actually more similar to the guy who did this to you than you would know."

Lance was shaking as he wrote. 'How?' He wasn't quite sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"You see, before the Nsync gang was into the weapons trade their main source of income was their kidnappings. They would take a child, then they would get the poor parents to pay them ransom money. It was quite sad really." Nick explained, not taking his eyes off the road.

'No, Justin wouldn't do that' he wrote. Lance was second guessing his involvement with the gang. When all they did was deliver weapons and have the odd turf war it was easy to gloss over how dangerous and immoral these men actually were. But still, Lance loved feeling like he was a part of a group. The Nsync guys had started to feel like friends.

"Oh yes he would. To be honest Lance, I know Justin better than you do. You're pretty new to town. Not me though. I've seen with my own eyes what he's capable of." Nick debated.

Lance didn't want to believe him. However, Nick was right, he had known Justin more than Lance had. They pulled into the driveway.

"There was this little boy..Bobby. Used to see him around town, he was a sweet kid.. Then Justin and his gang kidnapped him." Nick began.

'What happened to him?' He wrote hesitantly.

"Unfortunately for Bobby, his parents couldn't afford the ransom like the others could. So Nsync kept him captive. They believed that his parents were just bluffing. They figured if they could show the parents just how frightened they could make little Bobby, they would give them the money."

Nick looked quite sad, however it was hard to tell if it was sincere. "Then, Justin turned to threatening the parents with violence. He would even tell Bobby about it." he added.

This felt too familiar for Lance. He felt like he was going to cry.

"Eventually Bobby ran away. But he wasn't the same." Nick held Lance's hand. "The last time I saw him he was mute.. Like you."

Tears streamed down Lance's cheeks and he squeezed Nick's hand tightly. He didn't want to believe it, but how much did Lance really know about Justin anyway?. He felt so disgusting, that he had kissed..maybe he could have even loved a man who would do that to somebody.

"It'll be ok Lance, come inside." Nick comforted as he stepped out of the car.

Lance nodded and followed him. Nick led him up the stairs to his bedroom. Nick's room was so.. normal. Not what you would expect of the leader of a gang.

"Well, my room is your room Lance, so make yourself at home." Nick said as he sat down on the bed.

Lance looked puzzled, then he wrote on his whiteboard 'You're not going to handcuff me or keep me in a basement?'

"What?" Nick laughed. "No.. unless that's what you want?" He suggested flirtatiously.

Lance lightly shoved him, with a tiny smile on his face. He sat down next to him.

"I don't know how Justin treated you, but I would never do that Lance. I don't need that, because I'll treat you well enough that you'd never want to run away, ok baby?" Nick wiped away Lance's tears with his thumb. "I trust you."

Lance nodded. Maybe he had misjudged Nick. Maybe his sleazy jerk act was just a thing he did to seem tough around Justin.

"Do you trust me?" He asked gently.

Lance gazed into his blue eyes and made his decision.

'I trust you' he wrote.

"I'm so glad." Nick said softly as he leant in and kissed Lance tenderly.

Kissing Nick felt weird. His first reaction was to feel like it was wrong.. Because it wasn't Justin. This just made Lance kiss him back even harder. He tried to remember that Justin didn't deserve him, but he missed the way that Justin's lips felt. He found himself comparing the two.

Then he pulled Nick on top of him. He had to get over Justin somehow.

"Woah there, Lance, I love how eager you are, but I have some stuff that I have to attend to" Nick grinned. "But tonight." Nick murmured as he leaned in to kiss his neck "I'll show you what you've been missing out on."

Nick peeled himself off of Lance and stood up. He smirked when he looked back at how flustered Lance was.

He turned to walk away but Lance grabbed his wrist. 'Thank you for telling me about Justin. Sorry that I misjudged you. You seem you're a nice guy' he wrote.

"That's ok Lance, like I told you, you just had to give me a chance." he replied with a sly grin before he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

He chuckled quietly at how gullible Lance was as he walked down the stairs.


	9. Chapter 9

Lance waited anxiously for Nick to return. He sat on the bed, trying to get over his nerves.

He couldn't stop thinking about Justin, though, which made him angry. Justin was a monster, a horrible person.

Still, Lance was having a difficult time getting over him.

Just then, Nick returned, a smirk on his face. "Sorry. I had to talk to a business partner. His name is Lou. You can meet him tomorrow, he's super nice. Almost like you knew him your whole life..."

Lance got a little uneasy at that, but shook it off and just smiled up at Nick.

Nick took a couple steps closer, still smirking. "You know, Lance, I've been thinking about this for weeks...you, on my bed, at my mercy...it's almost too hot." He purred.

Lance could only nod, biting his lip slightly.

"Come over here and give me a kiss. You're so good at those." Nick's smooth voice coaxed Lance into standing and walking over to Nick, wrapping his arms around his neck.

He leaned up and kissed him, letting Nick do most of the work. However, he cringed slightly as Nick grabbed his ass and pulled him closer.

He could only think of Justin, and that made guilt race through his whole body.

Nick was backing him up onto the bed when they both heard tapping on the window.

It was a furious Justin, wielding a gun, which he used to break the window.

"I fucking warned you, Carter!" He screamed, before charging at Nick.

Nick growled in annoyance and shoved Lance onto the bed. "Don't move. I'll take care of this."

He moved in on Justin, and swung, but missed. Justin used this opportunity to strike Nick in the head with the butt of the gun, knocking him out.

"Come on, Lance, we can escape!" He grabbed Lance's wrist, but Lance pulled away.

He quickly scrawled, 'No. I'm staying with Nick. I know all about you." He glared at Justin.

"All about me? What?" Justin glanced down at Nick quickly before sitting next to Lance.

'I heard about you. About Bobby. You're a horrible, cruel person.'

"What? Who the fuck is Bobby? What did I do?"

'You kidnapped a little boy, stole him from his life and his family, and torture him and used him for ransom, and then hurt him when they didn't pay.'

"What? I've never done that! Did he tell you that?" Justin gestured to Nick.

Lance nodded, still staying a safe distance away from Justin.

"He lied to you, Lance. That's what he does. He lies to guys, pretends to comfort them, and then uses then as his own little sex toy. Then, he can always coerce them into having sex whenever he wants. He's a manipulative bastard, and he's gotten to you!"

'How do I know that you're not just lying to me?' Lance wrote then folded his arms.

"I guess you don't." Justin sighed. "But JC, Joey and Chris would vouch for me that there was no 'Bobby'. Unless you wouldn't believe any of them either." He said bitterly.

Lance turned his face away from Justin. He didn't know what to believe.

Justin put a hand on Lance's shoulder and shook him back towards him. "Look Lance, they care about you a lot. You're a part of the gang now."

Then Justin looked at the unconscious body on the floor and frowned. "Unless you just want to be with that liar Nick Carter." he scoffed, removing his hand.

He was an actual part of the gang? The other guys liked him that much? A part of Lance felt really excited about this. It surprised him.

He looked down at Nick Carter, then back up at Justin. Who could he really trust? However something about Justin's eye's looked sincere. It made Lance want to give him a chance to prove himself.

'I feel like I might believe you, but i'd like to check with the rest of the guys about Bobby.. If that's ok.'

Justin grinned "Well sure Lancey, I've got nothing to hide."

This reaction made Lance feel like might have made the right decision.

Justin helped Lance out the window and they left the way Justin had came in. His familiar motorbike was there, waiting.

Lance hesitated before wrapping his arms around Justin as he normally would when they rode. But when he did it felt like he was home. Justin briefly looked back over his shoulder and grinned at him. Maybe Justin felt the same way.

He revved the engine and they hurried back to the clubhouse.

JC, Chris and Joey jumped up from the couch and raced over when the front door swung open.

"Justin! Did you save Lance?!" Yelled Joey, concerned as he ran to the door.

"Is he ok?" Added Chris.

"Yup, I've got him." Justin put an arm around Lance and roughly pulled him closer. "But, before he agrees to come back to the gang there was something that he wanted to check with you guys. Did we have anything to do with a kid named Bobby? Answer truthfully." He asked the group.

Lance already felt a bit embarrassed for believing Nick Carter. When he looked around, at his friends, he just couldn't see them doing that.

"Bobby?" Puzzled JC.

"Who the fuck is Bobby?" Chris laughed.

A small smile spread over Lance's face. That was just the reassurance he needed.

He looked up at Justin then wrote 'I'm sorry that I didn't believe you.'

"That's ok Lancey, I know how Nick is. But there is something that I'd like you to do, to repay me for saving you." he leaned in closer.

Lance's eyebrows raised. He had really hoped that Justin wouldn't ruin this moment by being sleazy. But maybe he was just being wishful.

"No, not that...not right now at least." Justin laughed. Lance felt embarrassed.

"Kiss me." Justin said confidently.

Without hesitation Lance leaned in to kiss him.

"Ew! At least wait until we leave! God!" Chris complained, rising out of his chair and leaving the room. Justin and Lance pulled away, blushing.

Joey and JC soon followed, rolling their eyes at Chris's dramatics.

Once they were alone, they looked back at each other. Justin had his hands in Lance'waist, Lance had his on Justin's back.

It was comfortable, it was perfect. Justin leaned back down, touching his forehead to Lance's.

"Maybe now that we're alone, you can repay me some other way." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Lance rolled his eyes and wrinkled his nose, making Justin laugh.

"You are so cute." He sighed, leaning down for another kiss.

***

Nick woke up in a daze, his head throbbing. He looked around wildly.

"No...fuck! Lou!" He screamed, holding his head. A few moments later, a large, heavyset, balding man walked in the room.

"What, Carter?"

"I'm done playing nice! I want you to go tomorrow to go get that mute bitch, I don't care how many people you have to kill, I don't care how you get him- just do it. He's gonna be mine whether he wants to or not." He ordered.

Lou nodded, smiling evilly. "Don't worry. I know what to do."


	10. Chapter 10

Nsync's routine had largely gone back to normal. They hadn't even had any trouble from the backstreet gang. They seemed to be laying low for a while. The guys were pretty happy about this. Particularly Justin and Lance, they didn't want to see Nick Carter's face again.

They had delivered the last shipment of weapons to their customers with no issues. However, a customer of theirs had tipped them off about a new cop in town with a bad reputation. This didn't trouble them much, though. They had dealt with the pigs before and it was probably just a rumor.

"We better go get the new shipment from Tony." Justin suggested.

"Ugh, didn't we like, just do that?" Asked Joey lazily. He was sprawled over the couch, reading a tattoo magazine.

"Yeah, and our customers loved it, so we have to get more!" Justin playfully flicked him. "But if you guys are really that lazy I guess just Lance and I could go." Justin wasn't particularly disappointed. He got to spend time alone with Lance.

"Yeah, let the two lovebirds go." Chris dismissed.

Justin picked up a pen from the table and threw it at Chris. He flinched as it hit his cheek.

"Hey!" He yelled.

Justin chuckled as he put an arm around Lance's back and led him out the door.

They rode over to the warehouse and Justin waited in the distance as Lance went inside.

However, as time passed and Lance hadn't returned Justin got worried. He decided to check that Lance ok.

When he knocked on the door, nobody answered. Then he noticed that it wasn't locked so he let himself into the intimidating building.

"Lance? Tony?" He yelled. The warehouse had most of the lights turned off and it made him feel uncomfortable. He put his hand on the knife in his belt.

He jolted when he saw Tony in the corner, bound, gagged and handcuffed to a chair.

Justin immediately texted Chris to get the rest of the guys to the warehouse.

He freed Tony, helping the large man up. "Tony, what happened? Where's Lance?"

Tony took a deep breath. He was in here, picking up the order. Then, that new cop everyone's been talking about came in through the back and said that I was busted. He had Kevin from the Backstreet gang with him. Kevin tied me up, and the cop grabbed Lance."

"What? Oh my God!"

"It was awful to watch. He was thrashing around, he looked so scared. I wanted to help, but ai couldn't. Finally, the cop chloroformed him, and carried him off."

Justin stood there, completely dumbfounded. "Carter!" He exclaimed after a minute. "Oh my God. He's gonna- he hasn't done this since- fuck!"

He ran outside just as his gang pulled up. "JC, I need you to go to the police station. Tell them there's been a kidnapping."

"How the hell am I supposed to do that? I'm a wanted criminal!"

"Figure it out. Now fucking go!" JC revved up his motorcycle again and sped off.

"You two are coming with me. We're gonna get Lance back and end this once and for all."

They nodded, Chris was smirking.

They rode off, ready to get Lance back, no matter the cost.


	11. Chapter 11

"Where are we going?" shouted Chris over the roar of the motorbikes. They had been following Justin for miles with no indication.

"Nick's house!" Justin yelled.

Chris and Joey nodded and continued to follow.

Justin had no way to know if Lance was at Nicks house, but he was willing to look anywhere until he found him.

Their bikes came to a stop as they arrived in Nick's driveway.

"Carter you bastard! What the fuck have you done with Lance?!" Justin yelled ferociously as he stomped towards a window and punched it with his bare hand. He proceeded to climb in, not even worrying about the broken glass.

Joey and Chris climbed through much more delicately.

"Come on out you fuck!" Justin shouted as he kicked over a bookshelf.

The other guys were a little taken aback, they had never seen him this angry before.

"You guys search the rest of the house!" He commanded as he ran up to Nick's bedroom.

Justin just stood there, breathing and trembling with rage. Nick's room was empty.

"He's not here boss!" Joey informed him.

"Yeah, nobody's here!" Chris agreed.

Justin punched a wall before storming out of Nick's house. He wouldn't let the other gang members know, but he was terrified. Terrified of not being able to find him.

"Where are we gonna look now?" Asked Chris as Justin jumped back on his bike.

"I don't fucking know, somewhere! We'll search the whole town if we have to!" Justin snarled.

Just then a man rode by on a motorbike that caught Justin's eye. He had his hair back in a slick ponytail and was wore a leather vest. Justin's eyes narrowed as he noticed the bandage that was visible around his shoulder.

"Howie." he muttered bitterly before reviving his engine. "Let's get him boys!" Justin declared, gesturing towards him.

They zoomed up the road, right on his trail.

Howie looked back over his shoulder and gasped. He attempted to outrace them but it was of little use.

Chris swerved in front of him with a devious grin.

"Hey Howie, remember me? Or are you gonna give me the cold shoulder?" He cackled.

Joey, Chris and Justin had Howie surrounded, riding their bikes around him like a barricade.

"Where did Nick take Lance, Howie?!" Justin interrogated.

"I'll never tell, Timberlake, so fuck off!" He tried sounding brave, but his voice shook slightly.

"You have ten seconds, or else I throw the knife into your skull." Chris threatened, gripping the handle.

Howie turned completely white. "They're at some cop's house. Pearlman." He trembled a bit, and quickly told them the address.

Chris smirked, and put his knife away. "Thanks so much." He sneered, before the three of them drove off.

They were quiet when they reached the house. They saw Nick's motorcycle, and a police car.

"Hey, maybe the cops are already here to arrest Nick." Joey suggested.

"JC's not that fast. Let's just get in there, and get Lance. Don't worry about the cop, for once, we're the innocent ones."

They quietly snuck around and peered through a window. There was Nick, passing money to a large cop. The cop counted the money, then nodded, and walked away for a moment.

He came back carrying an unconscious Lance.

Justin felt his lip curl as he watched Nick take Lance, and throw him over his shoulder.

"Go. Now!" Justin commanded. He broke yet another window, and climbed through, pointing his gun at Nick.

"Okay, Carter, I'm done playing nice. Give him back, or else I'll put a bullet in your brain."

Nick smiled condescendingly at Justin. "But Justin, Lance and I are gonna have some fun. Didn't someone ever teach you how to share?"

He looked at Lance fondly. "Mmmm...do you think he'd object to me taping this? I'm gonna need evidence when he moans my name, instead if yours."

Justin couldn't take it. He pulled the trigger, catching Nick in the arm.

"Fuck!" Nick shouted, dropping Lance. "Lou." He shot a look at the cop.

"Got it." He walked over and grabbed Chris and Joey. "Christopher Kirkpatrick and Joseph Fatone, you are both under arrest for illegal weapons and drug trade." He ended this by tazing them.

"Chris! Joey!" Justin was distracted, which gave Nick enough time to knock him out, using a vase on the mantle.

Lou dragged Chris and Joey away, and Nick kicked Justin.

"Now the town is mine, Timberlake." He muttered. He decided to keep both of them in the basement. There was a couch, where he and Lance could get it on, and he could make Justin watch.

Nick glanced down at the bloodied wound in his arm. "Fuck!" He muttered. This wasn't his first bullet wound, nor would it be his last. He wasn't particularly worried, it just made him angry.

He stormed off to bandage himself up, leaving the two unconscious men behind.

 


	12. Chapter 12

"Lance?"

"Lance, baby?"

A familiar voice murmured softly.

A hand lightly caressed Lance's face. Their skin was rough and Lance could feel each cut and scab when it ran over his cheek.

He slowly blinked his eyes open and froze with fear when he saw who's hand it was.

"You have a nice sleep, lover boy?" Nick grinned slyly and let his hand slide from Lance's cheek, down his chest, then further.

 Lance gave Nick a piercing glare as he stopped his hand by grabbing Nick's wrist tightly. Nick laughed.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything yet" he smirked. Then he gestured towards where Justin's body laid "I'm saving that for when your little boyfriend wakes up. I'm sure he'll love to watch."

 Lance's eyes widened and he attempted to jump up from the couch but Nick pinned him down. 

Nick studied the fear in Lance's eyes. "Oh don't be such a drama queen, he's fine." he scoffed. 

Lance felt relieved, even though his situation was still pretty awful.

They were interrupted by the sound of a door opening.

"Ah, Lou must be back from dealing with those friends of yours, Joey and Chris." Nick announced."You should meet him, he's been so eager to see you again." he added.

Lance didn't know what he meant by 'again' but he didn't dwell on it. He was more worried about what had happened to Joey and Chris.

"Hey Lou! Want to come say hey to Lance?" He yelled.

"I'd love to!" Lou called from the other room.

Lou ambled over to the couch and stood over Lance. Nick unpinned him when Lou arrived.

"Hello, Lance. I'm Lou." he extended his arm for a handshake.

Lance cautiously sat up and shook his hand. It was warm and uncomfortably sweaty.

He looked up at the man in front of him. He looked so familiar, but Lance couldn't place it.

Something about his face, the touch of his hand, the sound of his voice, it scared Lance.

"Nick, I wanted to talk to you about our arrangement for when you take over. Come upstairs."

"Be right there." He turned back to Lance. "And when I get back, you and I can have some alone time before Timberlake wakes up." He stroked Lance's face, then followed Lou up the stairs.

A few seconds later, Justin stirred, then woke up. "Lance? What happened?"

Lance got off the couch and crawled over to Justin, who was sitting down, handcuffed to a pipe.

"Wow...the tables sure did turn, huh?" Justin attempted to make a joke, his smile was weak.

Lance didn't have his board, so he just smiled back, and hugged Justin.

"We're gonna get out of this, Lance. Don't worry."

Lance squeezed his eyes shut, then he he opened his mouth, willing himself to trust enough to speak.

"I- I think I love you, Justin."

 "L-Lance did you just talk?! And did you just say what I think you said?" Justin stammered.

Lance nodded shyly then mumbled "Yes."

" I...I don't know what to say. Wow." He looked down and a smile spread over his face. "Gee Lance, you know I'm not great at this feelings stuff." He joked.

Lance grinned but was nervously awaiting his reply.

Then he looked up and gazed into Lance's pretty green eyes "I love so many things about you, Lance. You're the first person that I've really opened up to. I've been happier with you than I've ever been with another person. But..."

Lance's heart sank. He didn't want there to be a but.

"To be honest Lancey, it's hard to know if I love you because I've never loved anybody before. I have nothing to compare it to. It's not that I don't, it's just...maybe I don't understand love. I'd never given it much thought before." He explained.

Lance contemplated this for a moment. At first he was sad that Justin hadn't simply said 'I love you too', but then he sort of appreciated Justin's honesty.

This was just who Justin was and this was the person that he loved. It made sense that love would be a confusing and difficult feeling to navigate for Justin. He might not just know it when he felt it.

But if Justin really meant it when he said that he was happier with Lance than he had ever been with another person, then Lance was ok with being patient. With being there while Justin figures it out.

"That's ok Justin, I understand." Lance said sweetly as he hugged him again tightly and gave him a kiss.

 "We need to figure out how to get out of here before Nick gets back." Justin snapped back to reality, shaking his cuffs.

Lance shuddered. "He said he was going to have sex with me, and make you watch." He wrapped his arms around himself a bit.

"All the more reason to get out. He needs to have both of his legs broken."

They struggled for a few more minutes, before they heard the door creak open.

"Oh, Lancey! I'm home!" Nick called down cheerfully.

Lance couldn't do anything but give Justin a sad glance, and then walk back to the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha! We cliffhanger-ed you!


	13. Chapter 13

lo Lance looked back at Justin, fear in his eyes. Justin knew he'd have to escape, and fast.

He pulled on his handcuff hard, only one hand was chained to the pipe. The other was free.

Quietly, he reached up, fiddling with it. Maybe if he contracted his hand, he'd be able to slip it through.

He started curling his fingers, trying desperately to make his hand small enough.

Nick stood at the bottom of the stairs, leering at Lance.

"Hey, baby. Are you excited? We're finally gonna have some alone time."

Justin's blood boiled when he saw Nick lean over and push Lance onto his back. He started pulling his hand through the cuff, ignoring the pain.

"Did you like Lou? I told you he was nice. Great with kids, too. He just loves 'em, so much that he just wants to keep them." Nick made small talk as he started taking his shirt off, revealing smooth, slightly tanned muscle.

This was getting too real for Justin. He finally pulled his hand free and thanked God that Nick hadn't thought to look in the corner.

He looked around for something to smash in Nick's face with.

He settled on a long, thin piece of pipe about ten feet from him.

He started to inch towards it, keeping his eyes in Nick, who was busy showing off his body.

"Like what you see, Lance? This is the product of years of hard work." He looked at Lance. "Why don't you show me what you've been working on?"

Lance slowly sat up and took his shirt off slowly. Justin was inching over to something, behind Nick.

Lance put his shirt to the side, and looked up at Nick. He knew he was toned, years of running and walking everywhere had done wonders for his body.

Nick seemed to appreciate the sight. He sat down next to Lance and pulled the smaller man onto his lap.

"I've thought about this so much, Lance. The way you looked, the way you felt, how good you felt..."

Lance looked over his shoulder. Justin was no where to be seen. He looked back at Nick and smiled up at him, letting Nick's hands touch his upper body.

Nick grinned, and leaned back, lounging on the couch. "Now, how do you wanna do this? I could bend you over the atm of the couch, or just let you take a little ride." He thrust up a bit.

Lance didn't have to make a choice. There was the sound of metal connecting with hard bone, and then Nick fell over, unfortunately taking Lance with him.

Justin was there, his teeth clenched, a length of pipe in his hands.

"Lance! We have to go!" Justin shouted as he yanked him to his feet.

"Thank you." Lance gasped as they ran out of the basement, looking for an exit.

As Justin reached the end of the hallway he stopped, realizing that Lance wasn't with him.

He turned back to see Lance just standing there, staring at a photo frame on the wall.

"Hey! Why are you staring at that random kid? We have to get out of here!" Justin exclaimed, grabbing Lance's arm.

Lance didn't budge.

"That random kid in the picture is... me? Why does this cop have a photo of me as a child?" Lance cried.

"I don't know Lance, but right now isn't the time to worry about that!" Justin commanded as he quickly dragged Lance away from the photo.

They found that none of the doors could be opened without a key so they would have to find the window that they came in through. Justin just hoped that Lou wouldn't find them before they got there.

They made their way to the lounge room with the broken windows and both climbed out. They were now in Lou's backyard, but unfortunately, they were not alone.

Lou was lazily reclining on a deck chair, sipping a cool drink.

"Ah, Lance and Justin. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to see you here. But it's a good thing I stayed out here to keep watch, isn't it?" Lou chuckled and slowly stood up.

They flinched as Lou threw his glass on the concrete. Lou's face became more serious and he walked towards him.

"Look boys, your whole trying to escape routine is cute and all, but I don't have time to fuck around like this." Lou said, annoyed, before swiftly using his taser on Justin. Justin fell to the floor.

"Your turn." he smiled as he turned to Lance. Lance's knees felt weak.

"Why do you have a photo of me as a child? Who are you really?" He blurted out, just as Lou was about to taser him.

"You're talking?" Lou pulled his taser back. "Good work Lance. Wow, that takes me back to what you were like when I first met you." he commented with his face intimidatingly close.

Lou's words filled him with a feeling of dread but he couldn't put his finger on why. 

"Gee Lance, I'm hurt. You'd think after how much time we spent together you might remember me." he taunted. "Especially considering how dramatic you were about it. Fuck Lance, not everybody decides to go mute after a little kidnapping." he added mockingly.

"Y-you w-were the man who did this to me?" Lance gasped for breath.

"Guilty as charged!" he laughed. It was a big joke to him it seemed.

Meanwhile Justin had been writhing in pain from the taser. It hurt even more than a bullet. But when Lou said that he was the man who put Lance through that much suffering, Justin was stewing in anger. It made him forget about the pain.

"Now, where were we?" Lou smiled as he pulled his taser back out. "WHAT THE FU-" he yelled as he fell to the ground.

Lance looked down at Justin, who had just slashed Lou's ankle with his knife.

"You'll pay for that!" Lou cried as Lance helped Justin to his feet.

Then, they were interrupted by the distant sound of motorbikes' revving their engines. 

It was JC, Joey, and Chris. Justin was so happy, he almost cried when he saw them.

Lance helped him over to the gang. "Lance, you're riding with me. Hop on." Joey took charge, letting Chris take Justin.

Lance quickly climbed on, clinging to Joey as they sped off, leaving Lou screaming behind them.

 


	14. Chapter 14

"Thank you so much, you guys saved our asses back there." Justin yelled over the roar of the engine.

"A gangs gotta stick together!" Joey replied.

Lance was so shaken by seeing Lou again, but he felt calmer the further away they got. 

It felt weird, but a part of him actually enjoyed seeing Lou laying there, helpless. Overwhelmed by the pain Justin had inflicted on him. It felt like child Lance got to see some justice be dealt.

As they rode through they noticed that the town seemed somehow emptier than usual. Which was strange, there didn't seem to be any explanation for it.

Until they saw in the distance that their road was blocked by four men on motorbikes.

"The Backstreet Gang." JC muttered.

Nsync's bikes halted in front of them.

"What do you clowns want?" Justin yelled.

The four members of the Backstreet Gang laughed and revved up their engines.

"We got a call from Nick's new friend Lou. He wanted us to make you stick around for a bit." taunted Kevin as they drove their bikes around Nsync, trapping them.

"Lou and Nick are on their way. We've got some business to settle with you losers." added Brian.

The guys felt dizzy, watching the bikes race around them.

 "Whatever! You don't intimidate us! Neither does Nick or Lou!" Justin argued.

"Yeah!" Chris agreed, as he readied his knife.

They waited and waited until they saw something approaching.

It was Nick, enraged, riding an unfamiliar motorbike. It was black with a flames design. But most notably, it had a little sidecar that Lou had squeezed himself into.

Lou was wearing sunglasses and his wispy hair danced in the wind.

They came to a halt.

"We're settling this today Timberlake! I'm done with you. Your gang vs my gang! Loser has to leave town and not come back!" Nick declared.

"Deal." Justin snarled, climbing off of Chris's motorcycle.

Chris whooped and jumped onto the ground, holding out his knives.

It all happened so fast. Lance knew he would be practically useless, so he stayed to the side.

JC and Brian were wrestling, it looked like either of them could win, even with JC's brass knuckles as an advantage.

Chris was throwing his knives with glee at Howie, who was still injured. He suffered another stab to the shoulder, one to the thigh, and one to the hip before he gave up and hobbled away.

Joey was taking on both AJ and Kevin, and he was starting to lose. "Chris! Help me!" He choked out as Kevin put him in a tight headlock.

AJ smirked and pointed his gun at Joey's exposed chest. "See you in hell, Fatone."

Joey closed his eyes and waited for the shot, waited for death.

It never came. He opened his eyes and saw AJ just standing there. His grin was still on his face, but his eyes were wide, like he was in pain. He keeled forward, revealing the knife in the center of his back.

He was dead, with Chris standing behind him.

"You bastard! You killed AJ!" Kevin screamed, letting Joey go and storming over to Chris.

Before he had the chance to do anything, Joey leapt and tackled Kevin to the ground, smashing his head once, rendering him unconscious.

"Thank you, Chris. He almost killed me." Joey gasped, still on top of Kevin.

Chris grimaced in pain. "No problem, Joe."

"What happened?" Joey was alert once more.

Chris's hands trembled a bit as he moved his jacket to the side and pulled a small throwing star out of his side. "Kevin threw it. But I'm fine."

It was a lie. Blood was slowly pooling out of the wound, bright red and horrible.

"I'm taking you to a hospital. Now. Justin!" Justin looked up from his fight with Nick.

"What?" He ducked a punch from Nick.

"I'm taking Chris to the hospital. He's hurt." Justin paused, and turned around, seeing the bloody scene for the first time. Nick gasped when he saw AJ's bloody body on the ground.

Justin ran over to Chris, who was bent over in pain. "Chris. Are you okay?" Justin asked, helping the bleeding man onto Joey's motorcycle.

Chris only looked up at Justin. "Kick his ass for me. J." Justin could only nod.

Joey sped off, and Justin turned to evaluate the scene. Kevin was knocked out, AJ was dead, JC and Brian were still wrestling. Nick stood up, and ran at Justin.

"I'll fucking kill you!" He screamed, tackling Justin.

Lance decided to jump in. He ran over to AJ's body and grabbed the knife.

Just as he was about to run over to Justin and Nick, someone grabbed his shirt and pulled him back.

"Miss me, Lance?" Lou asked mockingly.

Lance turned back to look at him. Shivers went through his body as he peered into Lou's beady little eyes.

"Don't touch me Lou, you'll regret it." Lance said coldly, yanking his shirt from Lou's grasp.

Lance turned back to walk towards Justin and Nick, but Lou grabbed him by the neck.

"I'll do what I want, actually!" Lou growled.  "Maybe you should try showing a little respect, for a while there I practically raised you!"

"I will never respect you!" Lance gasped, Lou's grip was tightening. "You..didn't raise..me.. You stole..my.. childhood!" he choked with the last of his breath.

"You stole.. my.. childhood.." Lou imitated mockingly. "You were a drama queen then and you're a drama queen now." he laughed.

His laughter enraged Lance. He gripped his knife tightly and clenched his teeth. Then he swung his arm around, stabbing Lou in the side.

Lou froze for a moment while he registered what had happened. He touched the bloodied wound, then glared at Lance. His breath was labored and heavy.

Then he let out an intimidating growl and launched himself at Lance. They both fell to the ground, with Lou on top. Lance felt trapped under his weight.

Just as Lou was fumbling for his taser, Lance plunged his knife into the side of his neck. Lance closed his eyes, but he felt the weight of Lou fall off to the side.

Lance was shaking as he stood up and looked down at Lou, who was bleeding to death.

Then he remembered about the others, they needed his help. He bent down and pulled the knife out of Lou's neck, before running over to Justin and Nick.

Nick was winning, his rage over AJ's death was giving him extra strength. Justin was slowly growing weaker and weaker, his vision getting blurry.

Suddenly, Nick's weight was off of him. He looked up, and saw Lance standing there, with a bloody knife.

"Lance!" He croaked, trying to move closer. Nick held him down by stepping on him, pointing a gun at his head.

"Don't move, or I'll shoot him." He threatened. Lance stopped, and quickly tried yo think of a plan.

Suddenly, it came to him. "Nick, please...don't kill him."

"And why should I listen to you?" He cocked the gun, his finger trembling over the trigger.

Lance took a deep breath. "If you let him live...I'll be yours. I'll go willingly." Justin gasped.

"Lance, no! I'm not worth it."

"He's right. You had your chance, pretty boy. It's too late."

Lance knew it was time to pull out all the stops. He carefully stepped closer to Nick.

"Is it, Nick? I've come around...I want to be yours. Unless you're saying you don't want to fuck me anymore." He took another step, and ran his hand down Nick's chest.

Nick slowly put the gun down, but kept his foot on Justin's back.

"Prove it, right now." Lance gulped, and leaned up, kissing Nick. He pretended to moan, when Nick grabbed his ass and groaned, "Fuck, you're gonna make such a good bitch."

Nick almost didn't even notice when Lance reached down and stabbed him in the back.

Pulling away, he let Nick fall over before reaching down and helping Justin up.

"Did you kill him?" Justin asked.

"I don't think so. But I think he knows it's over." Nick crawled over to Brian, who was starting to lose.

"Get me out of here, Brian." Brian surveyed the scene quickly, before nodding and dragging Nick over to the sidecar motorcycle, dropping him in and speeding away.

JC came up to jon them. "Should we go to the hospital?"

Justin thought for a moment. "Go without us. We'll be there soon." JC nodded and rode off.

Justin looked back at Lance. Lance had just killed Lou, and almost killed Nick, and yet he still looked so innocent.

It hit him. He was in love with Lance.

He smiled, and hugged Lance. "If this is what love feels like, then I've been missing out." He murmured.

Lance looked up at him. He didn't need to say anything, he only kissed Justin happily.

They climbed on Kevin's abandoned motorcycle and rode to hospital.

It was time to tell them the good news.

 


	15. Chapter 15

When they arrived at the hospital, Justin was stumbling his way to the entrance. He felt dizzy and the loss of blood had started to affect him.

Lance, without being asked, made Justin put his arm around him and helped him walk. He knew that Justin was too proud to ask for help. 

Once they were inside, Justin was taken to a hospital bed and had his wounds tended to. Luckily, Lance's injuries were so minor that he only needed some bandages. This meant that he was able to stay by Justin's side.

Before the nurse left him, Justin asked if there was a Joey Fatone, JC Chasez and a Chris Kirkpatrick in the same hospital. She went to check with the receptionist, then returned with a piece of paper that had their room number written down. Apparently Joey and JC were in Chris's room.

"You're allowed to leave the bed to go visit them if you want-" 

"Really?" Justin interrupted excitedly.

"BUT you will have you use a wheelchair, we don't want you busting any of your stitches." the nurse finished sternly.

"Aw come on! I'm not that messed up!" Justin argued.

Lance softly ran his hand through Justin's hair. "It'll be ok, I'll push you around. Besides, the quicker you heal up, the quicker you get out of this hospital." he smiled.

Justin was about to debate more, but he looked up at the authoritative nurse, who had folded her arms. Then he looked back at Lance smiling at him and sighed.

"Fine" he groaned, defeated.

"That's a good boy." the nurse praised sweetly as she left.

Justin grumbled something under his breath. He didn't like feeling weak and he certainly didn't like being called a 'good boy'.

Lance thought it was cute.

Lance stood up and retrieved the wheelchair from the corner of the room.

"Ok, grab onto my arm and put as much weight on me as you need ok?" Lance instructed, helping Justin into the wheelchair.

"Yeah, yeah." Justin dismissed embarrassedly. He actually did appreciate the help though.

"Ok, there we are." Lance said cheerfully. He looked at the piece of paper "Looks like Chris's room is just down the hall."

Then he wheeled Justin away, into Chris's room.

"How is he?" Justin asked as soon as they entered the room.

Joey turned around. "Thank God Kevin's aim sucks. A few more inches to the left, and he would've died."

"Joey, would you stop telling people that? I'm fine. I'm alive. I'm still a snarky fuck. See?" Chris complained from the bed.

"Chris!" Justin excitedly rolled over to the bed. "You're alive."

"Yeah, well, you know. Signed a deal with the devil, and all that. You're stuck with me, kid." His tone grew soft as he looked over Justin. "I'm glad you're okay, Justin."

"Please. It takes more than Nick Carter to take me down." Someone knocked on the door.

It was a nurse. "Mr. Kirkpatrick, we need to change your bandages. All visitors need to leave."

"Oh, come on, Debbie. Please?" Chris batted his eyelashes at her. She glared at him.

"Oh, all right. See you guys tomorrow." He reluctantly agreed.

The other four walked and wheeled down the hall.

"Lance and I are gonna take a bus. You guys go on."

"Are you sure, Justin? We can just give you a ride." JC asked. Justin shook his head.

"Nope." He grabbed Lance's wrist and pulled him onto his lap. "This cutie and I have a date in my now empty room. We'll be home later."

Joey and JC groaned, but conceded, heading out. Justin started wheeling back down the hallway.

"Wait- you were serious?" Lance giggled as Justin sped up.

"Absolutely."

"But..." Lance looked over his shoulder nervously "We're in a hospital, Justin." he whispered.

"Wow, Lancey, I didn't know that." he mocked, wheeling into their room.

Lance reluctantly stayed on, then climbing off as soon as they got to the bed.

"Here, I'll help you get back into your bed." he offered. 

"I don't need it, I'm not as hurt as that nurse thinks I am. Honestly, I could walk right out of here and be fine." Justin complained, without actually stopping Lance from assisting him.

"I know, they're just being careful." Lance reassured as he pulled Justin's blanket over him.

Justin rolled his eyes.

"You know, there's room for one more..." Justin suggested, lifting up the blanket.

"Hardly." Lance laughed, looking down at the single hospital bed.

Justin moved over and looked up at him hopefully. "How about now?" He asked.

Lance hesitantly stepped closer and placed his hand on the bed. Then he stopped himself.

"I don't know about this." He mumbled.

"Look Lance, I'm not gonna make you do anything that you don't want to do. Just at least come lie down with me." Justin smiled and patted the bed.

Lance conceded and climbed under the blanket with him. Justin put his arm out so that Lance could snuggle into his chest. He didn't realize how cold he had been before until he felt just how warm Justin's body was against his.

They laid there like that for a while, in comfortable silence. Then Lance peered up at Justin and noticed the smile on his face. It made Lance feel happy.

He kissed him on the cheek and murmured "I love you, Justin."

Justin held him tighter. "I love you too." he replied.

Lance looked up in shock. "You- you do?"

"It was after you saved me. After I saw how you stood up to Lou and killed him, just to save me. I realized then that I loved you, and that I would do anything to help you, too."

He lifted Lance's face for a tender kiss.

"Oh, Justin..." Lance sighed, as he pulled away. "Okay."

"Okay, what?" Justin asked, confused.

"I want you to, um. I want you to make love to me."

"Oh, sweet, really? Cool! Okay, go steal a condom from the STI clinic downstairs while I set the mood."

"Justin! Not now. When we get home. I don't want to upset your stitches."

"Fine." Justin pouted. Justin's nurse came back.

"Visiting hours are over, Mr. Bass." She.saw the two of them in bed together, and smiled.

"Okay. Bye, Justin." Lance climbed out of the bed.

"Lance, wait. Come here." Lance leaned over, and Justin kissed him.

"Bye." Lance squeaked out again, embarrassed that they had just kissed in front of a nurse.

"I'm holding you to your offer, Bass." Justin called, grabbing Lance's ass and squeezing as Lance started walking away.

Lance glared at him, before quickly leaving. The nurse started cleaning up the room, making small talk.

"You managed to catch a cute boyfriend. Don't mess it up."

"Are you kidding? I'm never letting him go." Justin sighed happily.

"No sex in the beds, Mr. Timberlake." She paused to pull something out of her pocket. "Save it for the on-call room." She gave him a small key.

"Wow. Thanks, Beth."

"No problem. Now get some sleep." She left the room, and closed the door.

Justin soon fell asleep, dreaming of Lance.

 


	16. Chapter 16

"Good morning, Justin!"

Justin groaned and rolled over, without opening his eyes.

"Come on Justin, I've got other patients to check up on too." Beth coaxed.

Justin tiredly sat up.

"Let me have a look at these stitches." Beth said, peeling back the blanket.

Justin flinched as he felt her cold hands on him.

"Wow, they've healed up really quickly." she commented. "I'll have to get your doctors approval, but you should be fine to go home today."

"Really? I'll let Lance know." Justin replied happily. He reached for his phone.

"Seeing as you're going home early, could I have the keys back?" She asked slyly.

"Fine." Justin sighed and handed them over. He felt a bit disappointed, the idea of doing stuff in public with Lance kind of excited him. But he accepted that it probably wasn't Lance's style anyway.

The doctor approved Justin going home early, so he called Lance and let him know.

Lance was there to pick him up shortly. They caught the bus home together.

"We should get you a motorbike of your own." Justin decided as they approached the clubhouse.

"I'd like that, if you'll teach me how to ride." Lance smiled.

"Oh, I'll teach you how to r-"

"Don't." Lance interrupted, putting a finger to Justin's lips to hush him.

"Are my dirty jokes getting that predictable?" Justin laughed.

"Only a little." Lance replied as he opened the door.

They walked into the lounge room."

"Joey, JC?" Justin called out.

There was no response.

"Where are they?" Justin muttered.

"They probably left to visit Chris after I left." Lance suggested.

"So we're all alone?" Justin asked, his smile growing wider.

"I guess we are." Lance looked up at Justin, a small smile on his face.

"Well, how about that." Justin spanned his hands on Lance's hips and walked him backwards until he hit the couch.

Lance sat down, looking up at Justin with exasperation. "Not now, Justin. You're still kinda hurt."

Justin sighed and sat next to Lance on the couch. "Well, I guess we could just talk for now."

"You make it sound like such a burden. This my second day talking after _years_ of silence."

"I guess you're right." Justin just looked at Lance for a moment. "God, you were so brave yesterday. You stood up to the man who hurt you."

"I wasn't really. I was trying to help you, and he grabbed me."

"You risked your life...for me? Lance. That's-you're amazing." He pulled Lance into a tight hug, squeezing his eyes shut. He gently kissed the top of Lance's head.

Lance looked up at Justin with surprise. 

"What?" Justin asked, pulling away slightly.

"That was so affectionate. It was cute."

"Cute? No way, Lancey. You're the cute one. I'm the sexy bad boy."

Lance laughed and poked Justin in the chest. "Uh-uh. I'm the sexy one. I've had two guys literally fighting over me for the past month."

"Yeah, but you have a cute face. And that's never gonna change."

Lance smiled, and leaned back into Justin. "Okay, you're right. Besides, the cute one gets cuddled. I can deal with that."

Lance really appreciated just how much Justin had grown in the short time that he had known him. 

"I would have never imagined that we would be like this. It's like you're so different from when we first met." Lance commented, enjoying Justin's strong arms around him.

"You better not tell the guys though, I've got an image to maintain." He joked. Then his face softened. "If I've changed it's all because of you. You've shown me that I can really care about somebody Lance."

His flattery made Lance smile. Lance kissed Justin's cheek then said "You helped me learn how to trust again, how to feel safe. Thank you, Justin." He paused briefly, then added "I probably wouldn't be speaking these words if it wasn't for you."

"Hey, don't let me take all the credit. You got the strength to speak yourself, I just helped." Justin replied.

"Still.. I appreciate it." Lance murmured, resting his head back on Justin's shoulder.

Justin smiled and ran his hands along Lance's body innocently. Just sitting there holding him felt like enough. It was more than enough. And Justin had never felt that way with any guy before. He knew that Lance was something special. And he would do anything that it took to keep him. Even if it meant sacrificing being the tough guy now and then. 

He knew that it would be worth it. Because what he had with Lance was more valuable to him than anything that he had before. The rush that he got from robberies and violence didn't compare to just one kiss from Lance.

With Lance in his arms, he was exactly where he wanted to be.


End file.
